Radio Beatkolektif

Liam Hayes “Slurrup”

On January 13, Fat Possum Records will release ‘Slurrup,’ Liam Hayes’ first U.S. album in five years. The release caps an unusually busy period for Hayes – a consummate cult musician who also records under the stage moniker Plush – following the 2014 release of another album ‘Korp Sole Roller’ in Japan, his 2013 score for Roman Coppola’s film ‘A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III,’ and a recent tour with Christopher Owens. Hayes will tour again in 2015, with dates to be announced soon.

Recorded earlier this year in his native Chicago, ‘Slurrup’ is Hayes’ leanest, most urgent album to date, but also his most generous. Trading the lush orchestrations and hazy melodies that characterized some of his past work, the thirteen tracks on ‘Slurrup’ offer immediacy, economy, and hooks, while retaining Hayes’ unique ear for language. Uncut recently premiered a track from the album, “One Way Out” – containing the quintessential Hayes couplet “One way to make a Chinese suit/One way to make a duck salute” – calling him “one of the most charismatic and eccentric cult pop craftsmen of the past 20 years.”

Many who know Liam Hayes consider his 1994 debut single “Three Quarter Blind Eyes,” and the all-too-infrequent LPs that followed, to be bona fide pop classics. They cite Liam’s appearances in the films ‘High Fidelity’ (playing himself) and ‘Charles Swan’ as proof of his influence. And while he’s drawn favorable comparisons to Jimmy Webb, Badfinger, Laura Nyro, and Burt Bacharach, ‘Slurrup’ opens up a completely new, thrilling side of his particular brand of pop genius.